


The Struggle is Real

by Sami_Fire



Series: Fat Asriel AU [3]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fat Asriel, Female Frisk, Male Chara, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-12
Updated: 2017-04-12
Packaged: 2018-10-17 22:00:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10603119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sami_Fire/pseuds/Sami_Fire
Summary: Asriel puts a monumental amount of pressure on himself to stick to his diet and stay healthy. Unfortunately, he can only take that kind of pressure for so long. Takes place in a mini-AU where Asriel is fat.





	

Sometimes, Asriel swore the world had a sick sense of humor.

Temptation was everywhere. Whether it was the chocolate Chara constantly left lying around or having to pass by the candy aisle at the pharmacy, it seemed that food cues were lurking around every corner to get Asriel to break down. If he had a gold coin for every time in the past week he had to say "Thanks, but I'm on a diet," he would have at least 25 coins. He was doing relatively well at not giving in, but at the same time, he was suffering.

Asriel had some substantial heft to him, a side effect of the chubbiness he had as a child scaling up when he aged up upon his revival. He had a plush, round belly, thick arms and legs, and some folds along his back. No matter how much acceptance Frisk and Chara poured at him, there were times when he hated it and wished he could have been thin and sexy like he was during the final showdown with Frisk. Asriel, God of Hyperdeath, was lean and mean, unlike Asriel, Prince of Monsters, who was soft and roly-poly. Alas, the former physique was a facade from the start. He had always been a bit heavier than he should have been; he just used soul power to cover it up.

Anyway, yes, he was suffering. Counting calories and all the related dietary managements drove him up the wall. He was constantly hungry, watching others eat as they pleased was starting to make him irritable from sheer envy, and nothing seemed to actually be happening. The scale's dial might move one centimeter to the left if he was lucky on a given day, but aside from that he was his usual pudgy self from day to day. The situation was becoming more intensely frustrating every day, and he figured it was only a matter of time before he broke down and did something he regretted.

Asriel sighed heavily, poking his eggs with a fork while he stared at Chara's Cocoa Puffs. _Asshole_ , he snarled in his mind, and then immediately felt silly. His brother had other potential methods of spite than eating sweets in front of him. If Chara really wanted to make trouble, the mischief would be much more flagrant.

Chara returned to his seat with a glass of orange juice. "You know, Az, cold eggs taste like rubber," he said with a cocky grin.

"Oh. Yeah," Asriel mumbled, poking at his eggs some more and then finally taking a bite. They weren't bad, but what he would give for even one spoonful of the crunchy chocolate cereal puffs. There was no way that just two eggs were going to satiate him today, but he had to use all of his willpower and eat balanced meals, or whatever the trite garbage cycling through his mind told him. Still, being less hungry was better than being totally hungry, and so he made himself eat his eggs.

As Asriel picked at his eggs, he could hear Chara crunching away on his infernal sugary cereal, even over the TV. Frisk was supposed to be on TV delivering a statement today, and neither of them wanted to miss her in action. They kept watching, but there was no sign of her. "Come on, when are they getting to the speech?" Chara groused. "It's not like they can just pretend it's not happening." Asriel merely shrugged.

Not long after that, the news anchor said, "Earlier today, the Ambassador between Humans and Monsters spoke at the Honeydew Conference Center in Maddelton." _At least honeydew is a fruit_ , Asriel mused.

The camera cut to Frisk speaking at a podium. Someone in the crowd asked, "Miss Dreemurr, do you think that we will have to make special provisions for half-monster children in the future?"

Asriel chuckled. Frisk had taken on the Dreemurr name after leaving the Underground under the pretense of Toriel adopting her, and for some reason hearing that there was a "Miss Dreemurr" never failed to amuse him.

"Absolutely," Frisk said, her voice soft but resolute. "We may not know if half-monster children are possible yet, but if we find that they are, we must protect their rights."

From there, the news anchor resumed speaking. "Other hot-button issues discussed at the conference included the place of the Dreemurr royalty in this world and transportation accommodations for monsters." The camera cut back to the studio, and the anchor moved on to another story.

"What?!" Chara gave the table a dramatic pound that made Asriel jump. "Unbelievable! She deserves more than five seconds of screen time. Such bullshit. I wonder what they meant about 'the place of the Dreemurr royalty' though... if they try to make any trouble with the laws Asgore put in place to protect monsters, I'm gonna blow a gasket." Asriel made a noncommittal noise. "What's with you? If they try to mess with those laws, it kind of concerns you, you know."

"They're not going to do anything. They're too busy having no idea how monsters work to do anything," Asriel said flatly.

Chara sighed. "What's stuck in your craw today? Maybe you'll feel better if you actually finish your breakfast." With that, he went back to crunching on his godforsaken Cocoa Puffs.

"Maybe." Asriel tried to put one more forkful of egg in his mouth, but between Chara's crunching and the fact that the eggs were getting cold, he found that he had lost his desire to eat his breakfast. Of course, that could not be confused with losing his appetite; he was still quite hungry. He set down his fork with a clatter and idly stared at Chara's cereal bowl.

Chara caught on to Asriel's envious gaze. "You want some, don't you?"

"I, um..." Asriel knew that Chara wouldn't offer if he didn't intend to share at least a little, but at the same time, the idea of actually saying yes and breaking his diet was almost terrifying. No, more than that, admitting that he was weak-willed and wanted to smash his diet to itty-bitty bits was a horrible notion. In the end, anxiety won out over all else. "I'll be right back," he said as he bolted from his chair and ran to the bathroom.

"Where are you going?" Chara called out as Asriel retreated, but to no avail.

In the bathroom, Asriel's breath hitched in his chest as he tried to ride out his anxiety. His eyes fixed on the hellish slab of the scale and its horrible traitor dial. If he got on it, would it still give the same number that it did yesterday? There was only one way to find out. To even his odds as much as possible, he stripped down to his underwear, sliding the pile of clothes into a corner. He sucked a breath, stepped on the scale, and looked down.

He had gained a pound.

The trembling started in his hands, then coursed up his arms, and then spread through his entire body. Shaking and whimpering, he stepped off the scale and sank to a sitting position. He choked back one sob before erupting into the ugliest cry he had ever had, disintegrating into a blubbering mess. He curled up as tight as he could, holding himself as tears streamed down his face.

There was a knock at the door. "Az, I'm coming in," Chara said. When the door opened, his eyes went wide of the sight of Asriel crumpled into a bawling ball, and for once his face was serious. "Got bad news?"

"Don't... don't look at me," Asriel said through his sobs.

"Ohhh, no. No, no, no. What are you doing to yourself?" Chara sat down beside Asriel and placed a hand on his back. "No, seriously, what are you doing to yourself? If I had to guess, you put way too much pressure on yourself and you couldn't take it anymore."

"I can't," Asriel wheezed. "I can't take it."

"Oh, Azzie..." Chara tried to gather Asriel into his arms the best he could. "Come on. Try to relax. Whatever happened isn't the end of the world. You're doing the best you can, you know? Think about it. You're exercising, you're eating all right, you're doing everything you can to be as healthy as you can. There are worse things to be than fat."

Asriel sniffed, limply hanging his head over Chara's shoulder. "I guess. I'm just so tired... and hungry."

"It's all right, big guy," Chara said. "Sort yourself out, come back in the kitchen, and I'll let you have your own bowl of Cocoa Puffs. One bowl won't cause you to explode. There's nothing wrong with being comfortable."

"Okay." Asriel disentangled himself from Chara's hold and watched as his brother left. Though his breathing was still congested, he washed his face and tried to regain his composure the best he could before getting dressed again.

When Asriel entered, Chara was frantically tapping away on his phone. "Sit down, take a load off," he said.

Asriel did so. "Texting Frisk?" he asked.

"Yup," Chara replied. "I'm sure she'll give you a lot of TLC when she gets home."

Asriel nodded, looking down at the cereal in front of him. He hesitated, then threw all pretenses to the wind and shoved a spoonful in his mouth. Immediately, all his senses seemed to light up with ecstasy. It felt so good to be eating something sweet after at least a week of no such thing. Another spoonful went in, and he must have been making happy noises, because Chara's attention was now on him.

"Feeling better?" Chara asked. Asriel made an affirmative noise, and Chara chuckled. "For a moment, I almost forgot how easy it is to make you happy just by feeding you. No wonder Frisk likes to do it so much." Asriel's expression scrunched as he was unsure whether to take the comment neutrally or as a poke at his habits, and Chara caught on. "Hey, I didn't mean anything by it. It's true, isn't it? I mean, I do the same thing when I get chocolate, so don't overthink it."

"Fine," Asriel mumbled, crunching another spoonful. When it came down to it, he didn't care at this point. Chara's words were starting to sink in, and he found himself agreeing with the notion that there was nothing wrong with being comfortable. After being so stressed out, that was all he wanted.

The rest of breakfast passed uneventfully. As both boys finished eating, Chara's phone went off with a cheery ding. He checked it and announced, "Frisk will be home soon."

"Good," Asriel said, going to put his dish in the sink. As he washed it, watching the chocolatey milk flow away, he was startled by the sound of the door opening.

"Geez, I didn't think she meant that soon," Chara said.

Sure enough, Frisk came in, taking off her coat and setting down her bag in fluid motions. She scampered up to Chara and planted a playful peck on his cheek before changing targets to Asriel, throwing her arms around him and burying her head in his chest. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Asriel returned the gesture, holding onto Frisk tightly. "I'm better, I guess," he said, running a hand through her hair. She responded with a squeeze.

"I'm not washing this cheek for a week," Chara said. "I'll go finish cleaning up around here. You guys go... do whatever. Because I know you want to get up to something." Frisk rolled her eyes as Asriel groaned. "Fine, fine, I'm just joking!"

"Actually, there is something I need to do," Asriel said, an unusual firmness in his voice. "I'll be right back." He headed in the direction of the bathroom.

"Uh oh," Chara said. "If he's going to weigh himself again, be prepared for damage control." Chara followed Asriel, and Frisk followed Chara, not wanting to leave Asriel alone during a potential time of need.

When the two humans were halfway to the bathroom, a loud bang nearly shook the house. Chara just about jumped out of his skin. "What the everloving fuck?!" He ran to the bathroom and froze when he saw the carnage.

The smoldering remains of the scale smoked against a wall. Asriel blew some residual magic off his hand and shook it out. "There," he said. "Better."

"Wait, did you really..." Frisk was trying to peek around Chara as he spoke. "Did you really blow up the scale?" When Asriel nodded, Chara burst out laughing. "Oh, man! Talk about being dramatic. Property damage is not the answer. I could have just hidden the damn thing for the same amount of money."

"I needed to do it," Asriel said.

Frisk gently pushed Chara out of the way and went up to place a hand on Asriel's shoulder. "It's okay," she said.

Chara wiped away some tears from his laughter. "Man, oh man... well, whatever makes you happy. If it'll make your comfortable in your own skin, we'll find every scale in a 5-mile radius and blow those up, too."

"Heh, maybe," Asriel said as he almost seriously considered the idea. "I guess you're right. This is enough property damage for now." His gaze drifted over to the scale's ashes. "I think I'll go clean this up. You guys go about your business."

"If you say so," Chara said. "If I hear any more explosions today, though, I'll... have to invest in sound canceling headphones." Asriel and Frisk both gave him funny looks. "I mean, what am I actually supposed to do if Azzie decides to blow more stuff up?" The joke fell flat, and he sighed and waved everyone off dismissively. "Whatever. See you outside." With that, he left the room.

Frisk was not so quick to make an exit. She gave Asriel another tight hug and said, "Come to the living room when you're done."

"All right, I will," Asriel said, marveling at Frisk's ability to make him feel better about himself.

Once the blasted scale was disposed of, Asriel made his way to the living room, where Frisk was sitting on the couch. Chara sat at the opposite end from Frisk, doodling in a sketchbook (those drawings of golden flowers had paved the way for more over time). Frisk patted the spot next to her, and Asriel sat down in that space, experiencing a brief moment of self consciousness regarding how much space he took up on the couch. Sighing softly, she leaned into him, putting her arms around him. "I love you the way you are," she said as she gave him an affectionate belly rub.

Asriel placed his hand on top of Frisk's. "I'm glad," he said. "Because I don't see myself changing very quickly."

"It's okay," Frisk said.

"Like Chara said, there's nothing wrong with being comfortable... I guess." Asriel used his free hand to tousle Frisk's hair. "I love you, too."

Setting his sketchbook aside, Chara groaned. "Come on, are you guys seriously going to have a lovefest right in front of me?" He scooted into Asriel's side, perhaps with a bit too much force as Asriel made a startled noise. Chara just laughed and put an arm around him. "Not without me, you aren't."

"Gee, Chara, I didn't know you were into that," Asriel said dryly.

"Yeah, yeah." Chara rolled his eyes and put his other hand next to Frisk's on Asriel's belly. "Shut up and let us love you."

Asriel sighed, ready to voice an objection, but ultimately decided against it. "Fine." He looked down at the hands on his stomach. "When you put your hands there it just makes me look even fatter."

"Look," Chara said. "I know it's not easy for you. You're trying to improve yourself and stay healthy, but that doesn't mean driving yourself to a breakdown every other week. I know it'll take a lot more than us telling you that we love you to get you to accept yourself. Just know that we're here for you, and we want you to be happy."

"Thank you." Asriel placed his hand on top of Chara's. "I have to take better care of myself. I can't let this happen again. It doesn't feel good to put myself under that much pressure. I mean, I'm not just going to totally let myself go, but it would be nice if I could just relax."

"Well, why don't you, then? Take a day and just enjoy yourself. I'll find some dumb cheesy anime I grabbed from Alphys and we can eat popcorn and watch it. Maybe even throw the popcorn at the screen. Ten points if you hit the character's mouth, five points if you hit their giant moe magical girl eyes." Chara was already looking back towards the kitchen to guess where he had left the popcorn.

"That sounds fun," Asriel said. "I'd rather have something sweet than salty though."

"Well, you know you're going to have to get your own," Chara said. "You got lucky with the Cocoa Puffs. I don't share my chocolate."

"You're like a horrible chocolate-hoarding dragon. I bet the only reason you don't sleep on your chocolate is because it'd melt." Asriel chuckled, pleased with his quip.

"Sometimes I wake up on top of chocolate wrappers, if that helps you," Chara said.

"Nasty."

"Well, anyway, I'm going to get the popcorn for myself. You guys figure out what sweets you're going to have." With that, Chara walked off and began rummaging through the cabinets.

Asriel sighed and squeezed Frisk's hand. "Got any ideas?"

"I have some in my room," Frisk said. "I'll go get it." She then left Asriel's side.

Alone on the couch, Asriel waited patiently for the ones he loved to return. He was quite ready to relax after his episode from earlier, and he was sure that Chara and Frisk would make sure that he did. Even now, with them away briefly, he wanted them to come back so he could feel their warmth. Perhaps he was easy to please, but sometimes being comforted was all he needed.

For a while, at least, he wouldn't have to struggle with himself.

**Author's Note:**

> I really wanted Asriel to blow up a scale. That's the big thing. XD The struggle is real, though, especially if you're a person that's constantly hungry.


End file.
